Protecting Our Communities

Tag Archives: coalville

Welcome to my first update for 2017. It would be fair to say that a lot has happened since my last update was published in November last year.

Getting muddy for Caitlin
For those who know me, running and getting muddy is not something I particularly like to do, however I volunteered to take part in a Scorpion Run to help raise funds for the daughter of PC Craig Turner from our Coalville neighbourhood team.

Craig’s daughter Caitlin, was born prematurely at 27 weeks and suffered viral meningitis which led to hydrocephalus.

She is now 11 years old and at an age where despite those challenges she wants to be more independent. To help Craig’s colleagues wanted to raise some money to help purchase a specialist trike for Caitlin.

It was with this aim in mind that I took part in a Scorpion Run. This took place on a wet and cold Saturday in December in Staffordshire.

The event was a 10k (6.2 mile) off-road run with obstacles and lots and lots of deep mud and bogs. It took me 2 ¾ hours to complete, including the swim section where they had to break the ice, it was so cold it took my breath away. The photographs you can see from the event were taken near to the start. Unfortunately the camera battery died shortly after these were taken.

Suffice to say I was exhausted, wet through and filthy by the time I finished. Would I do it again? Bizarre as it sounds the answer would be, probably, yes.

However it was all worth it when we were able to total up all of the money that we raised. Colleagues from not only Coalville, but across the force including the Police Federation donated money and we were able to buy the trike for Caitlin, and a new laptop. Here is a picture of Caitlin riding her new trike.

Update from Christmas
In the last update I mentioned our licensee workshop and the start of our Safer Christmas campaign across North West Leicestershire.

During December we carried a vehicle crime awareness campaign, highlighting the need to remove valuables from unattended cars and vans, and to make sure they are locked. We combined this with personal safety awareness for shoppers in Coalville and Ashby.

Also in December we carried out an alcohol test purchase operation. We visited eight premises in Coalville, Ashby and Measham.

Three premises sold alcohol to a person who was under age. We have issued warning notices to those involved and we will be running further test operations in the future. My experience tells me that we need to ensure that all of our licensees operate to the highest standards, as this does have a positive effect on crime and anti-social behaviour in the area.

We will continue to work closely with the Pubwatch schemes in Ashby and Coalville, and North West Leicestershire District Council.

Elite Vehicle in Ashby
One of the important elements of our Celebrate Safely campaign is the provision of an Elite Medical Vehicle in Ashby on the weekends leading up to Christmas. We have done this for a number of years and is funded by the North West Leicestershire Community Safety Partnership. In the main this has helped people who are on a night out in Ashby with first aid and assistance and has proved to reduce demand not only for the police but the ambulance service.

On New Year’s Eve there was an incident in Ashby town centre in which a young man was assaulted. A paramedic from the Elite Medical vehicle was on the scene very quickly and was able to provide excellent first aid on a night when the ambulance service are under huge pressure and may not have been able to get there as quickly.

A 34 year old man has been arrested and charged in connection with this incident, and as the matter progresses through court I will keep you updated.

Tackling concerns about speeding
I know from the meetings me and my teams attend that speeding is a concern to many communities across North West Leicestershire. At the end of January the Forest neighbourhood team which covers the Measham area, carried out four speeding operations in Measham and Moira. During the course of the operations just over 200 vehicles were checked with only two travelling at a speed where enforcement action could be taken.

Although this indicates that speeding in those areas might not be as big a problem as we first thought, we will continue to carry out periodic speed checks not only in Measham and Moira, but right across North West Leicestershire.

Kayleigh’s Love Story
I mentioned in the last blog that the film Leicestershire Police have made about Kayleigh Haywood would be available publicly at the beginning of 2017.

On the 3rd January the film was made available across a range of channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

In the days that followed the film went viral and very quickly had been seen over 2 million times. At the time of writing the film has had 8 million views.

Despite seeing the film a number of times, I still find it very hard-hitting, and if you have not seen it then please take a few minutes to do so.

The film is part of our CEASE campaign, the Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of children and young people. Since we launched this campaign in February last year over 21,000 people have signed a pledge to look out for the signs that a child or young person may be in danger of abuse and exploitation. Please visit this link to sign our online pledge.

Kayleigh was from North West Leicestershire and we will continue to do all we can to make sure our children are safe.

Coalville police on the move
On a final note, I have mentioned in previous editions of this update the move to a new police station in Coalville. We will be jointly located with the Fire Service and in March work will commence to extend the fire station in Coalville. This should take seven months, so hopefully we will be moving in around October or November.

We will still continue to have enquiry facilities located at the reception desk at North West Leicestershire District Council, in Whitwick Road, Coalville.

That is all for now, enjoy the longer days, look out for my next update in May

Helena BhaktaCommander – North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Area

Now that the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, it would be an ideal time to remind everybody to take a few simple steps to prevent you from becoming a victim of crime.

make sure your home looks occupied by using automatic timer switches to turn on a light when it goes dark, even if you are just out for a couple of hours

keep doors and windows locked at all times – even if you pop outside to the garden or go upstairs

always lock doors behind you and remove the key from the lock

keep valuables, bags, cash and keys out of sight and keep them in a safe place

don’t leave packaging from expensive items outside your house – take it to be recycled or put them in the bin

install a visible alarm system and security lighting to act as a deterrent

prevent easy access to the back and sides of your home with locked gates or fencing

if you’re going away, don’t advertise it on social media

It’s that time again, Christmas is coming!
On Tuesday 8 November together with North West Leicestershire District Council we held our third licensee workshop.

This is an opportunity for the police, North West Leicestershire District Council and local licensees to meet and discuss our plans for the festive period and help achieve our aim of ensuring that everybody can go out and have a great night and be safe.

The workshop marks the start of our planned activities throughout November and December. We are fortunate to have a close working relationship not only with North West Leicestershire District Council, but also the pubwatch schemes in Ashby and Coalville.

Among the topics covered during the workshop were, child sexual exploitation, drugs awareness and drug seizure.

We also took the opportunity to show ‘Kayleigh’s love story’, which was made by Leicestershire Police and highlights the dangers or online grooming. The story of Kayleigh Haywood is well known to many local people and it is hard to believe that we are approaching twelve months since she was murdered.
The film has been shown to over 10,000 children in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland and CEASE (Campaign for the Eradication of Abuse and Sexual Exploitation) has now received over 10,000 pledges. Kayleigh was a local girl and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that the children and young people of North West Leicester are safe. The film will be available publicly in January 2017.

On Saturday 3rd December 2016 at the Coalville & Ashby Light Switch-on, we will be launching our Christmas Celebrate Safely Campaign. We have support from Turning Point Drugs & Alcohol rehabilitation project, North West Leicestershire District Council, Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service, the Road Safety Partnership and our Street Pastors.

Our key messages are:

Personal Safety

Look after yourself

Enjoy alcohol sensibly and know your limits,

Drugs are illegal – don’t put licensees in a position where they have to refuse you entry.
Plan ahead

After a night out, how are you getting home?

Who are you going home with?

Book a cab at the start of the night

Property

Vehicles

Don’t leave valuables on display

Homes

If you are using candles ensure you put them out or use an electric candle

Invest in a light timer.

During the festive period we will be visiting licensed premises and we will be on the streets to educate local people, giving them the opportunity to take a non-evidential breath test which will indicate the amount of alcohol they have drunk. This will be accompanied with advice about calorie intake, safe limits, the ability to drive and to ask them to consider safe ways to get home having consumed alcohol.

To move or not to move?
Some time ago we announced our intention to move from the current police station on London Road. The intention was that we would build an extension to the Fire Station in Coalville and move into there.

I am delighted to say that construction of the new building at the Fire Station will start in the New Year. I do not have any dates for likely completion, I will keep you updated with progress.

North West Leicestershire volunteer cadets
At a recent ceremony held at Leicestershire Police headquarters, our volunteer police cadet team won the Saville Shield. This is an award for teams who volunteer for Leicestershire Police and this group of young people are an important part of the team at North West Leicestershire and are a credit to themselves.

Prince’s Trust attachment
PCSO Jason Harriman from the Ashby neighbourhood team recently returned from a twelve week attachment to the Prince’s Trust. This gave Jason an opportunity to share his skills as a neighbourhood PCSO and learn more about engagement with young people. Jason has a highly successful attachment and we have seen the benefit of this since his return.

Leavers and JoinersWe have had a number of changes to our staff.
Sergeant Audrey King who was the team leader for the Ashby and Forest Neighbourhood teams, has moved to Braunstone as a team leader on the Patrol and Resolution team. I would like to thank Audrey for her hard work and enthusiasm particularly her work on licensing.

Audrey’s replacement is Sergeant Colin Gardner who will be well known to many of you having worked at Coalville previously as a neighbourhood PC and Sgt.

PCSO Suzie Hunt from the Bardon Hill neighbourhood team has recently moved to Hinckley and Blaby Neighbourhood Policing Area where she will be part of the team policing Bosworth.

PCSO Jennie May from the Forest neighbourhood team has left Leicestershire police and is moving to Cheshire where she will become a police officer. Both Jennie and Suzie have been tremendous assets to the team here at North West Leicester police, and everybody here wishes them every success for the future.

As replacements for Jennie and Suzie I am delighted to welcome PCSOs Bekki Hales and Elena Chambers. If you see them out and about please take the time to stop them and say hello. I am sure they will be great assets to the team.

That is all for the time being, I am now in my fourth year as the police commander for North West Leicestershire and I continue to be proud of the work your police team do on your behalf to keep you safe.
If you see any members of my team whilst they are out and about, take the time to stop and say hello, I am sure they will appreciate it.

Wishing you all an early Happy Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year.

Helena BhaktaCommander – North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Area

Welcome to my latest update, it has been a busy few months since my update in April.

Kayleigh HaywoodAt the beginning of July, two local men were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment following the grooming, false imprisonment, rape and murder of Measham teenager Kayleigh Haywood.

Kayleigh was groomed online by Luke Harlow, before she was killed by his next door neighbour, Stephen Beadman, in the early hours of Sunday 15 November 2015.
At Nottingham Crown Court on the 1st July, Beadman, was given a life sentence, to serve a minimum of 35 years, after pleading guilty to murder and rape and being found guilty of false imprisonment.

Harlow, of George Avenue, Ibstock, was sentenced to a total of 12 years after being found guilty of false imprisonment and having pleaded guilty to meeting Kayleigh following sexual grooming, two counts of sexual activity with her, and two counts of attempting to meet two other girls following sexual grooming.

My thoughts as always, are with Kayleigh’s family and friends and I know this case has had a powerful impact across North West Leicestershire. Leicestershire Police have made a film about Kayleigh’s story which was shown extensively in Measham, Ibstock, and Coalville in early July.

In September, when the schools return all children aged 11 years and older in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will be given the opportunity to see the film.
It is a powerful film and we are grateful to Kayleigh’s family for allowing us to tell her story and I am sure it will make a difference.

The film has attracted a lot of interest and all police forces have been given the opportunity to use it in their work with young people. I understand that once the programme for showing the film to schools has been completed then it will be released publicly.

Download Festival
In June we had the 2016 European Football Championships, and locally at the same time the Download Festival took place. I have to confess that I am not a massive fan of football, but I do know enough that England did not do very well, and the Welsh team did a lot better than expected.
For the police, the Download Festival was a massive success, despite the efforts of the weather to ruin it. This year only 42 crimes were reported to us, compared to 60 the previous year which we thought we would not be able to improve on after the excellent results from last year. Crime has now fallen, year-on-year, for three years and figures are at an all-time low.

2011 – 159
2012 – 195
2013 – 301
2014 – 92
2015 – 60
2016 – 42

I would like to pay tribute to the work of all of our neighbourhood officers to ensure that not only do we deal with 80,000 people visiting our area for the five days of the festival, but also carry on with normal day to day policing.

Rural Watch

In February this year Leicestershire Police set up Rural Watch, to create a network of villagers, farmers, churches and businesses that can work together to address local policing issues, share information and combat crime affecting parts of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Rural Watch brings together several existing schemes, including Horse Watch, Church Watch and Farm Watch, which have been operating across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, to create a bigger network and to help ensure everyone has access to advice and information.

Rural Watch is open to anyone who lives, works or visits rural locations in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. For more information about the scheme, and to find crime prevention advice on a range of topics, visit RURAL WATCH
If you are interested in joining the scheme please email your details to rural.watch@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk

You can also follow Rural Watch on twitter @Leicsruralwatch or on Facebook/leicsruralwatch

VolunteersIn North West Leicestershire we are lucky to have a great set of volunteers who give up so much of their time to support policing and the local community. At Download each year we rely on our volunteers to help provide crime prevention advice, and we have an active group of Special Constables and Police Cadets.

In June Special Sergeant Lee Bennett won the Outstanding Leader award at the Leicestershire Police Volunteers in Policing award ceremony. I must congratulate Lee on his well deserved award. More recently our specials have not only been assisting on day to day work but also when we have executed search warrants.

Our Police Cadets are a great bunch of young people who are learning about policing as well as undertaking initiatives in the community. On the 1st July Leicestershire Police held a memorial service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first day of the battle of the Somme. Emily Monk, who is a cadet from North West Leicestershire, along with several cadets from around Leicestershire attended the service. Emily volunteered to give one of the readings at a ceremony that proved to be very moving.

If you would like to know more about volunteering, please visit this link VOLUNTEERING

In March I attended the Police and Crime Commissioners’ launch of the Campaign to Eradicate the Abuse and Exploitation of children (CEASE). It brought key agencies together to share learning and best practise. CEASE is a major, multi-agency campaign to tackle child sexual exploitation in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We would like the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to play their part too, by coming together to make a very public commitment that the abuse and exploitation of children will not be tolerated and help to ‘spot the signs’ to prevent young people coming to harm.

You can support this and give your online pledge by visiting this link CEASE or text CEASE to 87007 from your mobile phone.

AWARDS for NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE STAFF

I was very proud to attend a recent award ceremony hosted by the Chief Constable at our Force Headquarters where PCSO Kev Bradley was Highly Commended in the PCSO of the Year awards. I would also like to thank PC Underwood and Castle Donington Parish Council for nominating Kev for his contribution to the local community. Kev and the Parish Council have undertaken some excellent initiatives.

We have a proud history of our staff being recognised for their work in our communities, and PC Steve Harrison the Dedicated Neighbourhood Officer for our Forest Neighbourhood covering Measham, Moira and surrounding areas, was also rewarded with a Chief Constable’s Commendation for Outstanding work in recognition for the great work he has carried out on his neighbourhood.

Nominations are now open for the Leicestershire Police Beat Bobby of the Year. If you would like to nominate your local officer you can do so by visiting this link. BEAT BOBBY

If you would like to know who your local officer is please visit this link LOCAL OFFICER

OUT and ABOUT
In my last newsletter I informed you of the multi-agency work being undertaken to ensure the communities of North West Leicestershire Celebrated Safely over the Christmas and New Year. We were particularly grateful to the support from local licensees and Hermitage FM to promote our campaign. Again our fantastic street pastors were out on all the key nights. Our crime prevention giveaways of purse bells, bottle stops and mobile phone bunjees were well received.

Although the number of incidents associated with the night time economy increased by only 10 reports was marginally the overall seriousness of incidents was reduced. The Community Safety Partnership Funded ambulance, treated 18 people under the influence of drink. This ensured people were well looked after and that the emergency services were able to attend to priority cases.

We are looking to build on this work as we prepare for the summer and in particular Euro 2016 in June and July. England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have all qualified with England and Wales in the same group. Although I must confess I do not know a lot about football, I know enough to say that there will be a lot of interest in the England v Wales result.

Along with North West Leicestershire District Council we have well established plans for policing licensed premises in the area and will be working hard to ensure that everybody has a safe and enjoyable time.

Two of England’s three group games are in the week, and I would advise you to take great care and avoid the ‘after the night before’ effect when driving to work the following day, and ensure that you have plenty of time from your last drink and when you set off.

DRUGS ARREST
On 27th November 2015 Thomas Neilson (32 years) and Brendon Evans (26 years), were arrested following the execution of a search warrant at an address in Measham. Both men have been jointly charged with possession with intent to supply class B drugs. Neilson was further charged with allowing his premises to be used in the supply of drugs. They are bailed to court until 27th May 2016 at Leicester Magistrates Court.

ASB PROJECT
The National Forestry Commission (Conkers) continues to part fund a local youth diversionary project. You may recall they secured funding from Asda. Each course accommodates 15 students and is one day a week for 10 weeks. Referrals are made through the Joint Action Group with the police and youth services providing staff. The focus is on addressing behaviour, its effect and understanding its impact on others. Informal & educational inputs are provided. Last year we rantwo courses with 24 people out of 29 who started, completing the course. In the 3 months prior to the course these young people were known to have committed 45 incidents of anti-social behaviour. In the three months during and after the course, six incidents were committed by four of the original participants. This is a significant decrease in offending; 25 youths stopped offending.

A big thankyou to Michael Ballentyne and his team at Conkers that have made this work possible.

Fresh off the press. We have recently conducted a multi-agency ANPR operation in Ibstock.

A total of 55 vehicles were stopped. 8 tickets were issued for offences of no seat belt, mobile phone and no insurance. One vehicle was seized, and a total of 55 vehicles were stopped and advice was given to a number of drivers regarding minor defects. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tested 20 of the vehicles for red diesel. The Environment Agency dealt with 9 drivers for not have the necessary waste permit for materials being carried. The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) issue a prohibition in relation to a vehicle defect and advised on a number of other matters.

North West Leicestershire police officers clock up the miles delivering cycle safety presentations.

Police officers and Police Community Support Officers from North West Leicestershire cycled over 480 miles in a cycle challenge which took place in the two weeks leading up to the Easter holidays.

The cycle challenge involved 13 officers cycling to primary schools in North West Leicestershire and delivering cycle safety and crime prevention presentations. 11 schools were visited and over 1600 children received the presentation.

PCSO Jenny May from North West Leicestershire Police, who was the coordinator for the initiative, thought it would be a good idea to see if officerscould clock up 180 miles, in recognition of the 180th anniversary of Leicestershire Police.

It quickly developed beyond that to cycling to schools to deliver the presentations as well as seeing who of our officers could amass the most miles. The presentations were focussed on, road safety, being visible and cycle safety and maintenance. We also covered cycle crime prevention.

PCSO Pat McDonald from the Valley Safer Neighbourhood Team managed to cycle 128 miles during the challenge, more than 20 miles more than any other officer. We will also be holding other cycle related events.

TEAM CHANGES
You will be seeing some beat team changes in the next couple of months. Valley neighbourhood team welcomes PC Lou Gravenall, a very experienced officer formerly working Coalville Town.

PCSO Julie Ryan from the Bardon neighbourhood team, has made a difficult decision to leave us for pastures new. She is a well-known local character she will be sorely missed by us all. We wish her well.

I still can’t believe Spring has arrived. The Download planning meetings remind me it is short stride to Summer. We have launched our Spring campaign to combat thefts from sheds and out-buildings. It is worth reviewing your security and investing in a padlock or even a shed alarm. For crime prevention and security advice please visit this link Garden crime prevention

I am conscious that it has been a few months since my last update. As many of you will be aware, we have been through some significant organisational changes within Leicestershire Police over the past few months which has resulted in a very busy time. However the end result of all of the changes is that I am still here as the police commander for North West Leicestershire!

Police Constable Tom Longden who is one of the Dedicated Neighbourhood Officers working from Castle Donington, was recognised for his hard work when he was Highly Commended in the Leicestershire Police Investigator of the Year category at an awards event held at our headquarters in Enderby recently.

Nominees and winners of this award are usually dominated by detectives, and to the best of my knowledge Tom is the first non-detective to win an award in this category.

In a twelve month period Tom took on and investigated 88 crimes, and on a number of occasions he received praise from the Crown Prosecution Service for the quality of his work. Some of the investigations Tom has been involved in related to dogs, and Tom has developed his knowledge and expertise in this area and has successfully applied for five dog control orders. I am delighted that Tom has been recognised for his hard work as he is an asset to the local police team in particular and the community in general.

At the same award ceremony our Special Constables received the Saville Cup as the Leicestershire Police Special Constable Team of the Year. During the year 2014-15 the North West Leicestershire Special Constables contributed over 5,700 hours of duty time, equating to a public saving that runs into six figures. They were involved in 47 arrests, and ran several operations including Operation Headley which targeted crime at major events and other operations targeting cross-border criminality. We are lucky to have a dedicated and enthusiastic group of officers who provide police support and assistance across North West Leicestershire.

Special Constables are volunteer police officers and work in their own time helping to make their local communities safer. I am delighted that our team has received the Saville Cup in recognition for their hard work.

An important part of the work we do in North West Leicestershire involves partner agencies.

In April together with Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), the Environment Agency and Trading Standards, we carried out an intelligence led operation which targeted offences related to the use of commercial vehicles. This included defective vehicles, unregistered waste carriers and the illegal use of red (duty free) diesel. During the course of the operation we stopped over 70 vehicles, and a number of offences were discovered including vehicle defects, using a mobile phone whilst driving and VOSA also dealt with two vehicles that also had defects.

As well as multi-agency operations like this we also regularly run local operations to target community concerns for example anti-social behaviour, speeding and parking particularly in and around schools.

We regularly consult with local people to help us understand concerns and identify our priorities. You can take part by visiting this link. Consultation survey

On a sad note, last month a member of our Front Desk team, George Hailstones passed away following a short illness. George had come to us last year having worked as a Police Community Support Officer in the Roads Policing Team and before that as a Traffic Warden.

He was a quiet unassuming man, and a proud Scot, he would no doubt have enjoyed the success of the Scottish National Party in the recent general election.

I together with a number of colleagues from different teams within Leicestershire Police attended George’s funeral which was a fitting and moving tribute.

That is all for this month

Helena Bhakta

Inspector

North West Leicestershire Neighbourhood Policing Commander

You can find out more about local policing including details of our Dedicated Neighbourhood Teams by visiting this link. Local policing

On Monday 4th August officers from the Ashby Safer Neighbourhood team visited the BUPA Care Home in Ashby to share their memories and experiences from previous conflicts. Here is a photo of Arthur ‘Jack’ Faulkes who was a Spitfire pilot during the Second World War together with members of the local police team.

Former Spitfire pilot Arthur ‘Jack’ Faulkes with members of the Ashby police team

Just prior to leaving for my summer break I took part in a Dedication Ceremony at Coalville’s War Memorial to remember local service personnel who have died serving their country since World War Two. It was a moving and fitting tribute to four men who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country.

Coalville memorial

Crime figures heading in the right direction

July saw the World Cup, and whilst the exploits of the England team were disappointing I was delighted with the local response in tackling any potential problems arising out of licensing and alcohol consumption.

In partnership with North West Leicestershire District Council we gave inputs to the Pubwatch schemes in Coalville and Ashby, visited all licensed premises, undertook test purchase operations and deployed extra patrols during key matches.

Compared to 2013 we saw a 16% drop in violent crime which meant ten fewer victims. Although it could be argued that the demise of England’s fortunes had a part to play in this, I would say that the concerted effort of ourselves and the team at North West Leicestershire District Council have played a significant part, particularly at a time when we would have expected to see a rise in reports irrespective of the success of the national team.

I am particularly grateful to Cath Ridgeway from the Night Time Economy team at NWLDC, and Sgt Mark Watson who is the lead for licensing at NW LPU.

Keeping with the crime theme, our performance in this area continues to head in the right direction. A particular headline I would like to refer to is our house burglary figures. Since the start of the performance year which commences in April, we have seen a 35% drop in reports of house burglary. This equates to 25 fewer victims. I am aware that concern about becoming a victim of burglary is very high on many people’s lists, and we will work hard at NW Leics police to drive those numbers down even further.

Download results

On a final note in relation to crime. I have now had the final figures in relation to Download at Donington Park. I am delighted that this year saw massive reductions in reported crime, with a 70% drop from 391 reported offences in 2013 to 91 this year. We normally have a problem with thefts from tents, however this year we received 53 reports as compared to 192 in 2013.

Lock it lose it!

The number of reports we have received about thefts from vehicles has remained stable, however about 15% of them relate to vehicles that have been left insecure. It would help us enormously if you could remove all valuable items and lock your car when you leave it.

We also regularly recover stolen property but often find it difficult to identify it. Help us by registering with the national police property database, Immobilise. Please visit this link for more information www.immobilise.com

For mobile devices, make sure you activate the find my iphone or ipad app, or the equivalent if you are a windows or android user.

Another award for North West Leicestershire Police

In previous updates I have referred to members of the team here who have won awards, with Police Volunteer Bob Bancroft, PCSO Rob Inman and PC James Broomfield recently receiving awards for their contribution to the police and community in North West Leicestershire.

I am delighted to inform you that PC Mark Arjoo, Beacon Officer for the Ashby Safer Neighbourhood Team was Highly Commended in the recent Leicestershire Police Community Officer of the Year awards.

Mark has been a police officer for 20 years and a local beat bobby for the last ten. In addition to traditional police duties Mark has made an impact far and wide in the local community.

Ashby Beacon Officer PC Mark Arjoo

Mark has played a key role with Ashby Street Pastors, and was the only local officer to be invited to the Street Pastor national conference. He is also involved with a local youth football project, Ashby Pubwatch and Shopwatch, the Ashby Statute, and will often work in his own time make sure events and meetings are covered.

If you see Mark out and about be sure to stop him and congratulate him on his achievement.

Drugs Warrant update

In the last update I mentioned that we had executed a drugs warrant. Since then a local man has been charged in connection with drugs offences and is due to appear in court in September. Watch this space for further information.

As I write we are in full flow with our preparations for Download which starts on Wednesday the 11th June through to Sunday 15th June. I have to confess that I am not the biggest fan of heavy metal, however I am proud to say that I know at least one of the bands, which is Aerosmith, and they are on the main stage for Sunday evening.

For many residents across North West Leicestershire, major events at Donington Park are a regular aspect of life, however our policing plan is as much about delivering a safe event for participants and fans, as it is for local people being able to carry out their day to day lives without too much disruption. In any case if you are planning to travel in and around Donington Park and East Midlands Airport during the week of Download, please plan your journey and allow extra time to get to your destination.

If you use Twitter follow @downloadcops for the latest information relating to Download and Donington Park.

Quality of Service

As a public facing organisation we deal with a wide variety of situations and work hard to keep local communities safe. Very often that is recognised when a member of the public writes in to thank our officers, and I am always delighted to receive such a letter. I also believe it is important that internally, we recognise our staff who go the ‘extra mile’ and deliver consistently exceptional service.

PC 2925 James Broomfield is the Beacon Officer for the Bardon Hill Safer Neighbourhood Team.

PC Broomfield at Pitbanks, Ellistown

During the course of the last year James has dealt with a high profile and long running case of anti-social behaviour which resulted in the offender being sent to prison. The case attracted national attention and has been featured on Channel 5. More recently James has been working on the problem of off-road motor cycles in the Pitbanks area of Ellistown which I mentioned last month.

However I was delighted that James has won the Leicestershire Police ‘Your Values at Work’ award for April 2014. This is an internal award and recipients are nominated by their colleagues. James was nominated by 15 of his colleagues and the nominations reflect the values James not only demonstrates in his day to day dealings with the public, but are regularly reflected in his support to his fellow officers at North West Leicestershire.

Easter Impact Sports Sessions

Over the course of the recent Easter holidays and in partnership with the Impact team from Leicestershire County Council, our local police teams were involved in the delivery of sport sessions for young people across the area. The aim of the session was two-fold. In the first instance the provision of a variety of sports, and secondly diversionary activity designed to show the young people in attendance the causes and effects of anti-social behaviour. Over 50 young people attended ranging in age from 8 to 20 years old. The feedback we have received has been excellent with an overwhelming plea from the young people for more sessions, which we are hoping to do over the summer months.

World Cup

At the time of writing the World Cup is only a few weeks away. In one of our webchats recently we had a bit of fun with an online poll which asked about England’s chances. 75% of those who answered thought England would get out of the group but would not progress much further than that!

However, we are aware that many people will be visiting their pub to watch the England games, and we have already been working with many of the licensees across the area to support them, particularly for the first game which will be late at night, and also coincides with Download. We have been in close liaison with the Pubwatch schemes in both Ashby and Coalville, and we have drawn up a patrol plan which is linked to the premises that will be opening late or showing matches.

How far do you think England will get?

STOP PRESS

News hot off the press.

As this update was about to be published we have executed a warrant In Ibstock, and seized a quantity of what we believe to be cannabis. A local man has been interviewed in connection with drugs offences.

Our enquiries are still ongoing at the moment and I will provide an update next month.